Katey Hawthorne

Author: Katey Hawthorne

Katey Hawthorne is an avid reader and writer of dark fiction and superpowered romance, even though the only degree she holds is in the history of art. (Or, possibly, because the only degree she holds is in the history of art.) Originally from the Appalachian foothills of West Virginia, she currently lives in the D.C. Metro Area. In her spare time she enjoys comic books, B-movies, loud music, Epiphones, and Bushmills.

Library

The Takedown
- Superpowered Love Book 8

Jody Aguirre's family was kidnapped and tortured by witch hunters. After a few days of captivity, he's all that's left. Using his frosty awakened superpowers, Jody manages to escape and is rescued from the side of the road by Bren Faulkner's stretch Town Car. Bren, a hot-thermal awakened with government connections, promises to help find the witch hunters who destroyed Jody's life.

While navigating his trauma and pain, Jody comes to rely on Bren for more than just food, his house, and his superpowered connections. Brendan is all that reminds Jody what's left to live for, and a strong advocate for justice vs. vengeance, like the proverbial knight in shining armor he is. As their affection for one another deepens and their attraction becomes impossible to deny, Bren wonders if acting on their feelings would be taking advantage. Jody, meanwhile, struggles to claw his way back to something like normality, knowing that Bren's part of the solution, not the problem.

But none of it matters, if they don't take down those witch hunters.

Stronger, Better, Faster, More

When he gets super-endurance powers out of nowhere, being a culinary student and kids’ soccer coach isn’t enough for Beau Warren--he has to be a superhero too. A sweet, hardworking trans man from a close-knit family, it’s important to Beau to use his new abilities to stand up for people who can’t protect themselves. When he runs into a speedster at a fire rescue, he doesn’t expect it to be his high school crush, Vel Chandrasekhar. Turns out Vel got superspeed when Beau go his endurance, so they decide to make their single supe act into a duo.

With their immediate attraction and superpowered libidos, it’s not long before Beau and Vel are roommates-with-benefits. That’s the idea, anyhow, if only Beau can keep from falling back into his old crush hard, since Vel’s self-esteem issues have left him skittish about relationships. Just when things are at boiling point between them, though, their search for their own superhero origin story leads them and their families into mortal danger. The only way to survive the truth is to depend on each other--and admit they’re a lot more than friends.

Kanaan & Tilney
- The Case of the Arms Dealers

John Tilney, praeternatural pyrokinetic and mystery author, has noticed the bottom dropping out of the market for his usual gothic fare, so he goes to Lowell Kanaan, PI, for a crash course in noir. Lowell, the cranky wolf-shifter detective, isn't sure why he agrees to let John shadow him--though it might have something to do with John's weirdly endearing honesty...and pretty lips. John thinks he's found the perfect detective novel hero in Lowell, but it isn't long before he realizes he doesn't want Lowell for his book, but for himself.

As they become entangled in a supernatural whodunnit involving the Zombie Mafia, black market body parts, and shady insurance deals, their partnership grows closer--and hotter. But when it comes down to the wire, Lowell's wolfy protective side threatens to drive John around the bend, or at least out of the office. Good thing John's as much sunshine as he is fire; hopefully, it's enough to help them catch a murderer before they end up--literally--in pieces, too.

Rather than spend his first post-college summer on the beach with a hot boy and a margarita, Zane Woodward goes home. While the lectures aimed at getting him to be more respectable like his lawyer father aren’t appreciated, Zane wants to be near his sister and his best friend—both of whom he’s convinced need him.

Enter Geordie Finsen: the Buddhist, blue-haired, stacked house sitter-next-door. Geordie has a penchant for parties, older women who can pay the bills, younger men who can wear him out--and he may or may not be able to control the weather.

While Geordie and his philosophies begin untangling Zane from his own expectations and hang-ups, they bring the two closer and closer. Soon their chemistry flares into a hot and heavy summer romance. But Geordie has hang-ups of his own, including an aversion to getting too attached to anyone or anything. When things get a little too heavy between him and Zane, his instinct to cut loose and run free is tested, and Zane’s plans for a perfect escape of his own might never get off the ground.

The Playhouse
- Superpowered Love, #7

Summer has been Lily McBride’s favorite time of year since she was a kid, because that’s when the Brookesville Playhouse opens its doors. Now that she’s an adult and works as their tech director, Lily wants more for her beloved Playhouse: a larger audience, a longer season, and exciting shows to draw new patrons.

This year, though, she also wants Genevieve Mason, a pretty starlet-in-the-making from the local university, recruited for the season’s tech crew. Genny throws her heart and soul into the place too, adding her own dreams of representation to the ‘must-have’ list, and using her sweet voice and surprising flare for pyrotechnics to draw the crowds in droves. They work so well together, it’s not long before their summer crush blossoms into a steamy affair.

Lily’s falling hard but always feels like Genny’s holding something back. And then there’s the dreaded Brookesville Arts Council--supposed to be a support system for all things cultural, instead dragging the Playhouse down with their old-fashioned stubbornness. There are a lot of hurdles to jump and egos to deflate before they can get what they want, both for the theater and from each other.

Aeron stepped through the tear in the worldfabric to meet his destiny at last. Instead, he found a shy young forest-priest with halting speech and a ridiculous smile—who claimed to know absolutely nothing about why his voice had been stuck in Aeron's head for decades. Not to mention why they both have the strange feeling they've been bound, somehow, for a very long time.

Tammas tries his hardest to unravel this riddle—and not to be too pleased by Aeron’s presence. That voice in his head was his only friend for long years, and Aeron’s magic both complements and augments his own in the most beautiful ways. But just as their affection for each other is deepening, they discover the origin of the bond is darker than either of them imagined.

In this omnibus edition of all three Fairy Compacts novellas, follow the adventures of the earnest, mendicant mortal Tam and the snarky, winged fairy Aeron. Together, they navigate their growing affection and the sins of their parents in The Dangers of Fairy Compacts; investigate fae court intrigue and the unsettling practice of thralldom in Life as a Fairy Thrall; and face their own greatest fears and mortal prejudices to fight for their home in Fairy Bound.

Life as a Fairy Thrall and Fairy Bound contain beautiful illustrations by Ruxandra Lache. This book contains explicit m/m scenes and is not suitable for those under 18.

In Distress: Missed Connections
- Superpowered Love, #6

Hopeless romantic Eddie Kim acts out his favorite 'rescued by the white knight' fantasies through weekly D&D campaigns, but had almost given up hope of ever getting a real one. Then Callum, a mysterious red-head with freezing superpowers and a memorable kiss, saves him from a house but disappears without a trace. Taking pity on him, Eddie's friends look to craiglist to relocate his hero.

Unfortunately, the publicity brings down the kind of attention Callum Race been trying to avoid; he's in town to try and clear his family name, and now the dangerous superpowered organization he needs to thwart know he's come home again. Still, he can't help following up with Eddie.

The heat between Callum and Eddie flares instantly, and Eddie insists on helping to undo the damage his romantic notions have done. The problem: that will mean becoming embroiled in a nefarious plot, not to mention a superpowered world Eddie didn't even know existed a week ago. The 'bad guys' will try to trick and use him, and in the meantime he has to convince Cal to trust him enough to be the white knight for once--and for real--instead of the perpetual damsel in distress.

Malory Claremont was born and raised to be the villain in someone else's story, complete with fire-based superpowers. But then his cousin and former partner-in-crime, Brady, led him into a trap, and he's been in superpowered lockdown ever since.

When he gets out on parole, he meets Theo McCracken, a cold-superpowered ex-offender. Theo has a modern Hamlet-style past, dangerously pretty eyes, and a hunger for affection that even Mal's best defensive efforts can't deny for long.

They've paid their debts to society, but society doesn't care--from blackmailing coworkers to suspicion from the neighbors, it's hard to catch a fair chance. Pile that on top of their dark family pasts haunting their every step, plus all the leftover abandonment issues and paranoia, and it feels like just a matter of time before they'll be shoved right back into prison.

After all the people he's hurt, Mal isn't sure he deserves a chance to live his own life, to choose his own labels, to be his own man. But maybe having someone like Theo, someone who can love him and be loved, scars and all, could make the whole endless struggle worthwhile.

Losing Better
- Superpowered Love, #4

Superpowered Special Agent Gabriel Genêt's first solo mission: go to Hooperstown, North Carolina, find evidence that Andrew Wynne is operating as a vigilante, then bring him in. Ten years ago, Gabriel spent a summer alternately torturing and hooking up with Andrew as they tried to ignore their parents' embarrassing affair. Of course Andrew, the big puppy dog, will be happy to see his old friend and never suspect a thing. Career-driven, cocky young Agent Genêt can hardly believe his luck.

A covert game of betrayals ensues. Things start out complicated, with Gabriel using Andrew's open arms and attraction to him for all it's worth. Gabriel tells himself he doesn't reciprocate, and then that he can control it, but it's too violent for either of them to deny. As he gets closer to the evidence he needs, a heady combination of nostalgia, genuine affection, and even understanding brings Andrew closer to him. Dangerously close, in every sense.

The stakes are much higher than just their livelihoods. Gabriel begins to fear it'll come down to a choice between everything he's ever believed in, wanted, and stood for--and the only love he's ever known.

By the River

After a bad breakup, Adam Kavanaugh returns to his sleepy old river town to find himself. His family hasn't changed, but he has some work to do readjusting to small-town life, so much that he wonders if he's made a mistake by coming home.

But from the moment Leith Marshall pops out of the Ohio River and smiles at him, there's no turning back. Between Leith's swimmer body, sweet laugh, and gentle soul, Adam is head over heels. Leith lets Adam into his little world bit by bit, from his mother's abandoned aquarium shop to his elderly father's fairy tale delusions.

Which might not be so delusional after all. Leith does have a certain affinity for water. It seems almost to listen to him. The current never pulls him downriver, the tub doesn't splash, and the pool hardly moves around him even at an all out sprint. He can't spend a night away from his river, and then there's the way he sings. Adam has to admit, he'd steer his ship straight into the rocks for that.

So maybe Leith inherited a few things from his mysterious mother. It doesn't mean he'll disappear like she did. That's absurd. Right?

A free Superpowered Love short. Since the events of Riot Boy, Brady's been loving his quiet life in Pittsburgh with Etienne. He's also been writing songs for his band, Willoughby Spit--and people are starting to sit up and take notice. A golden tour opportunity could be right around the corner... if Brady can stop panicking. Rather, if Etienne can convince him to stop panicking.

This story takes place two years after Riot Boy, the week Re-entry Burn starts.

Warnings:

1. Some spoilers for Riot Boy, though it's entirely possible to read this short first, if you don't mind that. Hints for Re-entry Burn, but no spoilers there.

2. Contains explicit m/m scenes and references to Brady's favorite sugarkink: handcuffs. Therefore, not suitable for those under 18. Also contains a bratty temper tantrum or two. And Primanti sandwiches.

Nobody's Hero
- Superpowered Love, #3

Jamie Monday lives in two different worlds. With his family, he's the golden child of awakened superpowered society. He's meant to do Great Things and pass on his powers -- with the appropriate girl, hand-picked by his mother. He's already failed at the former, so he can't bring himself to tell her that the latter isn't happening, either. With his friends, he's the social director and life of the party. He's also an out gay man with an appetite for the quick and easy lay. It's tough to have a relationship when you're hiding off-the-charts electrical powers, but Jamie doesn't mind.

Not until the prickly, paddy rocking, geeky-hot new guy at work shows him what he's been missing, anyhow. Kellan Shea's singular combination of dirty mouth and pure soul makes Jamie spark right from the beginning. To break through Kelly's defensive front and get to the gentle heart inside, Jamie will have to reconcile his split life: come to terms with his past, his family, his powers, even his nightmares.

Easier said than done, but if Jamie doesn't step up and own the truth, he could lose his love before it gets off the ground.

Equilibrium
- Superpowered Love, #1

Econ student Hansen Marks has been hot for Sam MacLeod since they first bonded over their secret superpowers--literally hot, since Hansen can produce fire from thin air. But soccer star Sam was always covered in girls, so Hansen kept his attraction in the closet and convinced himself that "best friends" was better than nothing.

When Sam's electrical powers freak out in public, Hansen has a sinking feeling they've been spotted by unfriendly eyes. While dealing with the fallout, Sam's emotional dependency on Hansen forces their mutual attraction to the surface. Even after they give in, Hansen is afraid to admit he's in love. Sam doesn't really like guys, he's just feeling vulnerable...right?

Just as their nights are heating up, it becomes clear Sam's electrical explosion was seen, and now someone has it in for both of them. They'll have to save each other, both from the haters and from their own fears, if they want to maintain equilibrium.

Best Gift Ever
- Superpowered Love, #1.2

Sam and Hansen have the lake house to themselves for the holidays and they're making the most of it. It'd be perfect -- if Sam didn't know Hansen has way more on his mind than he's willing to discuss. As in serious life choices.

All he can do is hold on tight and hope their first Christmas together won't be their last.

A free, fluffy short story following the events of Equilibrium.

Warnings:

1. Minor spoilers for Equilibrium, particularly in the area of the HEA or not question. It also takes place after "Jealousy", another free short. But the story stands alone, if you prefer to start with this as a sampler. Go for it!

2. This story contains NC-17 m/m sex practices, holiday festivities, a large bottle of Jack Daniel's, and a T-shirt kink moment. It is not for children, humbugs, or those opposed to sugarkink.

Riot Boy
- Superpowered Love, #2

Etienne never thought getting his pocket picked could lead to a first date. He knows the second he catches punk boy Brady's eye that the guy is pure trouble, but Et can't resist his wicked sense of humor, pretty face, cold hands -- and the "piss off" swagger when Brady's on stage with his band doesn't hurt, either.

From Rimbaud to Buzzcocks to Malbec to handcuffs, they introduce each other to their favorite pleasures, and the chemistry is unstoppable. But Brady disappears in the night, won't give Etienne a phone number, doesn't talk about his past; Etienne's never known someone so hungry for affection but with so many trust issues. Et would give all he has, but he has the feeling Brady needs saving from something before he can take what Et offers.

Then, the "something" shows up: Brady's dangerous family, all of them more than human -- including Brady, who has the ability to supercool matter with the slightest touch. Throw in the family talent for criminal activity, and it's an explosion waiting to happen.

Et wants to help him escape his past, but if Brady keeps disappearing, he may not get the chance.

Jealousy
- Superpowered Love, #1.1

When the latest addition to the Falls State soccer team starts eying Hansen, Sam's frustrated beyond belief -- and sanity. He tries his best to hide it, but there's only so much a guy can do. God help him if Hansen finds out about his jealousy.

A free, fluffy short story following the events of Equilibrium.

Warnings:

1. Minor spoilers for Equilibrium, particularly in the area of the HEA or not question. But the story stands alone, if you prefer to start with this as a sampler. Go for it!

2. This story contains superpowers, uncomfortable emotions, NC-17 m/m sex practices, and vegan cookies. It is not for children, vegan haters, or witch hunters.

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